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Archives for November 2015

Hello, beautiful burgundy lipstick! I’ve been looking all over for you.

With the cold, winter months approaching, I thought it would be time to change up my lipstick for the season. I spent about 45 minutes walking between makeup displays, swatching dark red lipstick on my hand in hopes of finally finding the perfect burgundy shade for the winter months. It was grueling (not really), but I did it.

Maybelline’s Colorblur in Plum, Please is the perfect matte color stick; glides on smooth, lasts for hours without too much bleeding or smudging, and doesn’t dry out the lips as much as other matte lipsticks do. It also comes with this cool, rubbery smudger on the other end so you can “blur in” (as the name suggests) the color if you don’t want it too bold.

I love the boldness of it, though. It’s exactly the color I was looking for.

I never thought that I could pull off such a dark shade because I’m so pale. But I guess dark hair and a fair skin tone pair well with light eyes and bold, dark lips.

Trust me when I say that this is my new favorite shade for the winter; a nice, wine red that I believe anyone can pull off.

Ladies, do yourselves a favor and grab this shade before I buy it all it runs out!

This past year has been a whirlwind of emotions. Changes are happening left, right and center; relationships starting up and falling apart, and then starting up again, probably only to fall apart, once again. But regardless of all of the crappy, horrible things happening, I’m still trying desperately to find the silver lining in all of it. I know it’s there, but there are days where finding the ‘happy’ of it all seems nearly impossible.

That’s why I’ve learned to make my own happy.

I’ve started doing little things – at least one or two a day – that make me smile, even if only a little bit. While they may be small, mindless, and irrelevant to some, they often change my mood entirely. I like to call this, “Project Happy”.

Here are five things that make me happy.

Put on some lipstick.
Before I leave the house, even if I barely put any makeup on that day, I make sure I apply some lipstick. It’s a very small thing that brightens my day. It changes my entire outlook – the brighter it is, the happier I feel. I carry around a few different shades in my purse

Color some pictures.
Adult coloring books are all the rage these days, and there’s something so relaxing about filling patterns in with different colors and shades. The more color I use, the better the photo looks, and the more I take pride in my work. It’s something silly, but it reminds me of being young and carefree – it reminds me of when I was happy.

Get ready for the day.
Even if you’re not doing anything or going anywhere, getting out of your pyjamas and into some comfy ‘around the house’ clothes changes your entire mood. Pyjamas – regardless of how comfortable they may be – give you that lazy feeling, but once you wash your face, make some coffee, and put on different clothes, you feel like a completely different person. I found that this helps with productivity, too; I tend to get way more done when I get ready for the day – it’s a complete mind shift.

Write in a journal/diary.
This doesn’t have to happen every day, nor does it have to be an epic entry – sometimes I just write about what I did that day, or an event that happened that made me smile. It’s nice to keep track of these things, so even when I feel like I have nothing to be happy about that day, I can go back and re-read things from other days. Of course, there are negative things and a whole butt-load of feelings written in there, but reflection comes in both positive and negative waves, so take the bad with a grain of salt and smile for the good.

Tell yourself you’re beautiful.
Next time you’re feeling a little down and you walk by a mirror or a store window, stop and smile, and remind yourself that you are beautiful. If beautiful isn’t the way you want to describe yourself that day, tell yourself you’re smokin’ hot, adorably cute, undeniably goodlooking – whatever positive words come to mind work. It may seem silly, but I guarantee that you’ll smile and feel just a little bit better.

The lesson here is that every negative has a positive. There is a silver lining to everything, you just have to search for it. It may be buried deep inside of a whole load of negativity, but it’s there.

I also craft, or watch some of my favorite TV shows over and over again (likes FRIENDS or Grey’s Anatomy), but lately, it’s been baking. There have been a few instances where I’ve come up with some pretty rad recipes, and this is one that I needed to share with you all.

I like to take a regular old cookie recipe and revamp it to make it unique, and that’s exactly what I did with this one. I’m not a huge fan of caramel, but I love toffee. I’m also not the biggest chocolate lover out there, but chocolate in cookies is pretty delicious. On their own, pecans aren’t exactly my favorite nuts; however, when I combined three of my not-so-favorite things, I baked up something that I really enjoyed!

You’ll need:

1 cup softened, unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of white sugar

2 cups of flour

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

3 Skor chocolate bars (or more, to your liking)

handful of pecans (or more, to your liking)

Time to bake!

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt, and set aside.

In large mixing bowl, beat butter with sugar and brown sugar until creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla, one at a time. Mix on low speed until incorporated.

Slowly blend the dry mixture into the creamed mixture.

Stir in nuts, chocolate chips, and caramel bits.

Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until golden brown.

With a glass of nice, cold milk, these cookies are delicious when they’re still a little warm out of the oven. The Skor toffee melts with the heat, and the chocolate adds a sweeter touch. The pecans add the one missing thing: the crunch.

These are the perfect cookies to share with friends, coworkers, and family over the holidays.

I also love nail polish and crafting. What do you get when you mix all three together? A DIY Coffee Mug design using nail polish instead of sharpies!

I browse Pinterest far too often, and people are using nail polish for everything these days: their nails (obviously), painting their keys to tell them apart, using clear nail polish on the inside of a ring to keep from turning your finger green, and now, I guess, to decorate coffee mugs! At least, that’s what I’m using it for.

Stencil out the design/letter you want onto the painters tape, and then cut it out.

Stick the stencil onto the mug. If you don’t like the initial placement, that’s okay! The painters tape is perfect for this craft because it’s adhesive isn’t particularly strong; just peel it off and re-apply it to the place you want it.

Grab one of the desired colours of nail polish and start dotting!

Once you’re done with the colour, give it a few minutes to dry. If you feel like you put too many dots, nail polish remover will do the trick!

Once it’s dry, keep dotting away until you’ve done all the dotting you can.

Something I should mention is that unlike the sharpie coffee mugs, the nail polish one doesn’t need to be baked, and it is washable. As long as you wash it by hand (and do so gently), your design should stay put.

Are there any Pinterest crafts you’d like me to tackle?
Any fun, festive crafts you want to see?

Leave me a comment below and I’ll see what I can do, or follow me on Pinterest and send me a pin!

Christine Cho is a hair and makeup artist extraordinaire here in Toronto; she did my hair and makeup for my headshots earlier this year, and since then I’ve been following her on social media. At the end of October, she paired up with AcneFree Canada and did a giveaway on some acne products.

Lately, my skin has had a mind of its own. I’m not sure whether it’s the change of weather, the new makeup I’ve been using, or even the change of climate (from Toronto to Sudbury for the week). I’ve been using tea tree oil as a spot treatment, but even that wasn’t working as well as it could be. I was determined to fix this issue and clear my skin once and for all.

So, when I saw this giveaway on Christine’s Instagram, I liked the photo, followed whoever I needed to follow, and commented about my skin problems and how I attempt to treat them. It was a nice surprise to see that I was chosen as the winner! I emailed my address to Christine on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I received this in the mail!

How adorable is this?! Included in the package: an Oil-Free Acne Cleanser, Acne Control Gel, and a Spot Treatment, all containing between 2-5% benzoyl peroxide which is an acne-fighting antibacterial ingredient.

I used the cleanser and the gel for the first time Thursday evening and hope to see some results after a few more uses; for now, it does seem like my skin feels clearer (if that makes sense). The spot treatment, however, I used immediately and have noticed a few spots decrease in size and redness. AcneFree Canada, for the win!

Again, I would just like to thank Christine Cho Beauty and AcneFree Canada for this giveaway. I look forward to using this product more and reporting back my results!

Last night in Paris, 127 people were killed in acts of violence; gunned down in a concert hall, at a restaurant, killed in explosions outsides of a stadium. Close to 100 others are fighting for their lives as they recollect what happened last night as they were out enjoying Paris’ nightlife. Hearing about this on the news and reading it on social media, viewing the photos that followed these attacks sends chills down my spine. There’s a video that was taken, appearing to be from a balcony looking down, and as sirens wail you hear gun shots and screaming. I can’t understand French very well, but it doesn’t matter; it’s still heartbreaking and skincrawling all at the same time.

In Beirut, Lebanon only a day before the attack on Paris, 43 people were killed by 2 suicide bombers on a busy shopping street in the country’s capital. In addition to the 43 killed, close to 240 people were left injured from the explosions and shattered glass. According to the Lebanese Minister of Education, Elias Bou Saab, one of the suicide bombers blew himself up at the gates of a school. A school.

Guys. Stop this. Stop all of this.

There is absolutely no need for this sort of violence; it’s unnecessary and cruel. Killing innocent people solves nothing in the long run. Countries will retaliate and more innocent civilians will become victims, and so the vicious cycle goes on. This “an eye for an eye” idea doesn’t work, and I don’t know how much longer we’ll have to endure the suffering. It’s garbage.

Terrorism isn’t a war that needs to be fought, it’s an idea that needs to be stopped.

Make love/peace/happiness/art/music/friends, not war.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all those with loved ones lost, those who are suffering, and those who are risking their lives to try to protect.